Review: Joy

Mostly fictionalised account of the life of Joy Mangano, here simply known as Joy (Jennifer Lawrence), who invented a new kind of mop and became a presenter on the Home Shopping Network. It took a long while to get there though, as Joy is from an early age full of ideas but then life gets in the way. She doesn’t go to college, has a brief and unsuccessful marriage to a well-meaning but fairly useless musician (Edgar Ramirez) and raises a couple of kids. Now she’s living in a house with the two kids, her soap opera-loving hermit mother (Virginia Madsen), and even Ramirez (whom she is still friends with) is living in the basement. Her harsh father (Robert De Niro) has also recently moved in after relationship troubles force him out of his home. There’s also a jealous and competitive half-sister (Elisabeth Rohm) dropping in from time to time, and the one person Joy can always count on, her supportive grandmother (Diane Ladd). One day, Joy has a brainstorm and begins the invention of a new mop that doesn’t need hand-washing. However, coming up with a new idea and seeing it come to fruition and being successful are two things worlds apart. Bradley Cooper turns up as Neil Walker, a big-shot at QVC (HSN’s rival), whilst Isabella Rosselini plays De Niro’s rich new squeeze.

Essentially Jennifer Lawrence’s “Norma Rae” or “Erin Brockovich”, this 2015 David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”, “American Hustle”) star vehicle is surprisingly palatable, given I can’t stand Lawrence for the most part. Virginia Madsen and the ugliest glasses you’ve ever seen aren’t terribly convincing, nor is Joy’s seemingly too-cute home life. It’s all a tad caricatured at times, which is a shame and the soap opera inserts add nothing but running time. However, for Oscar-bait star vehicle material, this isn’t bad even if Lawrence and her RBF (Resting Bitch Face) aren’t anywhere near as appealing as Sally Field (few people are, though). In fact, Lawrence’s patented RBF actually suits a character who is faced with a lot of shitty family treatment and harbours quite a bit of resentment and disappointment in her life. She also has to deal with a heinous bitch for a half-sister, played by Elisabeth Rohm. For the life of me, I couldn’t work out why that woman was so unremittingly horrible and nasty, but she certainly helps you get on side with Lawrence’s hard-working, far too selfless Joy. I just found every moment with Rohm to be agonising and unpleasant (The character, by the way, is entirely fictional). I also thought it was a stupid idea to have the film narrated by a person who dies before it’s over. This ain’t “Sunset Blvd”.

Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro are both well-suited to their roles, and Diane Ladd is good too. I was pleasantly surprised to see Isabella Rosselini on screen for the first time in seemingly quite a while, so that was nice too. Melissa Rivers, meanwhile is well-cast as her own mother. Let’s face it, after a while they sorta became one person anyway.

Although nothing terribly memorable, this is a pretty decent star vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence, and if you’re a fan of hers you’ll like this even more than I did. It’s a little caricatured and awkward at times, but you’ll still end up getting hooked by the story, which is pretty irresistible.

Rating: B-